UFC 169 Medical Suspensions: Several Fighters Out Indefinitely After Record Number of Decisions

UFC officials on Wednesday announced that Kyoji Horiguchi had to withdraw from his UFC 169 bout with Chris Cariaso due to an undisclosed injury. They wasted no time, however, in lining up a replacement.

Later in the day, officials announced that Danny Martinez, after paying his dues to the tune of 20 professional bouts, would be making his promotional debut in stepping in to face Cariaso.

En route to a 16-4 record, Martinez’s only defeats have been to stellar competition. Three of those losses were at the hands of UFC veterans Mark Hominick, Joseph Benavidez, and Jussier da Silva.

He is currently on a four-fight winning streak, but could be a little rusty entering the fight with Cariaso, as he hasn’t fought since December of 2012. Fighting out of Alliance MMA, Martinez trains with the likes of former UFC champion Dominick Cruz and former Bellator champion Michael Chandler.

Trying to fight his way into flyweight contention, Cariaso (15-5) is coming off of a victory over Iliarde Santos in October after having lost back-to-back bouts to two of the division’s best in John Moraga and da Silva.

UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barão headlines the card, putting his new unified belt on the line in a rematch with Urijah Faber on Feb. 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.